Pearson Announces New Editions of Speech and Language Assessments, Optimized for Digital and Paper

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Nov. 16, 2015 – Pearson today announced the publication of new editions of two of its premier speech and language assessments, the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation (GFTA) and the Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis (KLPA). The third edition of the GFTA can now be administered and scored on Q-interactive, Pearson’s award-winning digital assessment system that facilitates personalized testing and improves the convenience, accessibility and clinical utility of tests, using two iPads® connected with Bluetooth. The KLPA can also be scored on the innovative system.

Based on more than 40 years of research, the GFTA-3 allows speech-language pathologists to assess student use of consonants in multiple contexts and features an easy-to-use intelligibility measure as well as updated norms. It enables clinicians to support intervention for children to improve their language skills. The new test is still brief to administer and easy to score, while providing accurate scores for making diagnostic and intervention decisions, all on iPad.

“I love the use of the iPad. That is very motivating for the kiddos,” said Stefanie Nance, a speech-language pathologist at the Alamance-Burlington School System in Burlington, North Carolina. “Everything you need is built into the iPad: pictures, scoring, recording, etc.”

The GFTA-3 now includes dialect-sensitive scoring for a wide range of American English dialects and two new art sets, one appropriate for very young children and one for older students with articulation and intelligibility concerns.

“I’m so excited about delivering the GFTA-3 on the iPad and I love the fact that student responses are recorded so I can go back and listen to their speech without making them repeat it again and again,” said Lori Liebing, speech-language pathologist at Buchanon Elementary and Head Start in Pierre, South Dakota. “Test administration is so much quicker and scoring is a breeze.”

Co-authored by Ronald Goldman, Ph.D., and Macalyne Fristoe, Ph.D., the GFTA is one of the most frequently employed diagnostic procedures used by speech-language pathologists in the United States. Goldman, who passed away in August 2015, was highly visible in the profession of speech-language pathology and audiology for more than 40 years. Fristoe is professor emerita of audiology and speech sciences at Purdue University.

“As illustrated by his numerous honors from the American Speech Hearing Association and other organizations, Dr. Goldman’s contributions changed the way that speech-language pathologists use assessment to diagnose and treat their clients. The GFTA-3 is one of his many legacies to the speech and hearing community,” said Aurelio Prifitera, Ph.D., managing director of Pearson’s clinical assessment group. “Our team at Pearson was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Goldman.”

The KLPA-3, co-authored by speech-language pathologists, Linda Khan and Nancy P. Lewis, works with the GFTA-3 to provide information that will enable speech-language pathologists to determine if use of phonological processes are contributing to a child’s speech sound disorder. The KLPA-3 also includes updated norms, allowing clinicians to make informed therapy decisions based on the most current research, leveraging the test’s guidelines for remediation planning.

As a KLPA-3 co-author, Khan’s primary focus has been 0-to-3 year old children and communications development. She was recently a speech-language pathologist at the Saudi American International School in Riyadh and is currently a consultant. Lewis is a bilingual speech-language pathologist and clinical faculty member at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 40,000 employees in more than 80 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through learning. Pearson’s clinical assessment group provides sensory, motor, and development instruments for occupational and physical therapists and related clinicians to help develop insights that support evaluations and shape treatment plans. For more information about Pearson’s clinical assessments, visit http://www.pearsonclinical.com.